Today at 16:25 Hawaii Standard Time (HST), the French cousin pairs team of Christophe Papillon an Clement Heliot crossed the finish line of the Great Pacific Race. The team of CC4 Pacific completed the race in 75 days, 9 hours and 25 minutes becoming the seventh team to complete the biggest, baddest human endurance challenge on the planet.

The two Frenchmen are cousins from Millemont, a town just outside of Paris, France. They have done various adventures together in the past including cycling around Europe in 2010 when they covered nearly 2,500 miles and 9 countries in less than 2 months. The Great Pacific Race took them a bit longer to complete!

Their boat, La Cigogne (aka ‘The Stork’), is the only all plywood boat in the race. This means it is heavier and older than all the other boats in the Great Pacific Race. The boat name La Cigogne comes from the name of the street their Grandmother lived on. This street was named after a first World War pilot who flew in a plane called “La Cigngne”. Christophe and Clement spent two years renovating the boat in preparation for the race start. When they were in Monterey, CA before their journey across the Pacific, Christophe & Clement packed a few home luxuries onto La Cigogne, such as saucisson and French cheese. They were also the only crew to include 12 litres of red wine as part of their itemized rations list.

This two man team generally rowed one at a time for 2 hours before swapping to take a break while their crewmate took to the oars. During their crossing, the French cousins suffered sever adverse weather conditions in the form of Hurricane ISELLE and JULIO. With winds gusting to 60 knots and swells of 30 feet, Christophe and Clement took to their secure cabin spending 5 days on their parachute anchor waiting for the bad weather to pass before starting rowing again.

Upon their arrival, they were met by their families who have traveled from France to Hawaii to greet them and celebrate the completion of their journey.

When La Cigogne crossed the finish line, it also marked the completion of the inaugural edition of the Great Pacific Race. Seven teams completed the challenge. Race Director Chris Martin stated:

“For Christopher and Clement [CC4 Pacific] crossing the Pacific by using their own power has been the very definition of adventure. From the moment that I met them I felt confident in their abilities, conviction and strength of character. That charming character has won them many fans and friends from both sides of the Pacific and their fellow rowers. They have been tested immeasurably over the last 75 days, more so than any other crew, and we are proud to salute these cousins as they achieve this incredible feat. Bravo!”

Christophe and Clement are raising money for the Surfrider Foundation Europe, a non-profit organization dedicated to defending, saving, improving and managing in a sustainable manner the ocean, coastline, waves and the people who enjoy them.

We congratulate Christophe and Clement on completing the Great Pacific Race and welcome them to the islands of Hawaii!